Caught Out There
by punkydiva17
Summary: *Story completed* Story 4 of the nine lives series...reedited and r and r and so forth. Sharmell Sullivan is a Raleigh police detective looking to bust notorious drug kingpin King Booker
1. Caught Out There

_**Chapter One**_

_**Caught Out There**_

Sometimes the life of a Raleigh police detective was a little too much to bear. Okay, maybe not sometimes. But definitely most of the time. The double life involved with working undercover was brutal to everything outside of it. It was brutal to the people undercover, with their lives in constant jeopardy, and the relationships that they were in with other individuals. Most of the women were forced to break up with their men, knowing full well what the job would entail of them going undercover.

And that was no different for Sharmell Sullivan.

Of course, she was Sharmell Huffman now, trophy wife to notorious drug kingpin King Booker. Even she had to roll her eyes at that one. How arrogant could one man be to proclaim himself a king of something? He was a big muscular guy with a scar down the back of his shoulder. He vaguely reminded her of a bad Busta Rhymes impersonator. But she had to admit, she enjoyed the feeling that being proclaimed a queen brought her.

She had joined the force when she was twenty-one, and she had blown everybody around her out of the water by tagging some of the biggest headline grabbing cases within months of each other. Of course, all the men fell for her because of it. She was an unattainable beauty, but everyone still longed for a piece of her. Sharmell had long black hair that she straightened daily because the king loved her hair that way, and brown eyes with skin the color of dark chocolate.

She slid into the red halter dress studded with rhinestones and put the halter part over her head, leaving it to rest around her neck. She had to admit, she couldn't wait until she took down King Booker. She hated playing this damsel-in-distress bullshit, but her captain had assured her to do whatever possible to help with the solution of this case.

Sharmell had been forced to break it off with her fiance, Bobby Lashley, prior to joining the case, and whenever the others would see her in the precinct, she was understandably bitchy. Bobby was a lieutenant in Charlotte, and he was devastated when she had given him back the quarter karat ring, but they both understood what kind of things would happen on the case, and Sharmell did not want to be considered cheating on her fiance and putting him through that kind of pain, and Bobby didn't want to have to be interrogating her every time she returned home during her "getting her nails done" time.

"Hey, mama, you ready?"

She heard the gravelly voice of King Booker in her ear and she wanted to shudder, but she faked a smile as she stuck diamond encrusted hoops into her ears. "Hold on, baby," she drawled. "Just getting myself together."

"You're looking fine," he replied, encircling his arms around her waist. She wanted to bat his hands away. Six months of this and she was starting to get irritated. She wanted to make a move, but the next big drug deal was going down in three weeks. That's when the police would manage to get in there. She had already sent them the information, infiltrated the whereabouts while "getting a new dress" and she was already preparing her testimony. She couldn't wait to get this scumbag off the streets and into the jails where he belonged.

He didn't know this about her, but Sharmell Sullivan had a family member affected by the drug dealings of King Booker Huffman. That would have been her brother, Lajon. He had overdosed on heroin laced with extasy, buying it from a man who got it supplied from King Booker. Because of the connection between Sharmell to King Booker, Captain Vince McMahon was not going to allow Sharmell to take the case citing the personal reasons, but Sharmell was adamant, and after a vouch of character from Detective Trevor Murdoch, Captain McMahon opted to allow it.

Even as she stood, encircled in King Booker's arms, she remembered how wonderful it felt to collide her manicured fist into the face of Lajon's dealer, a young lowlife named Cody Rhodes, beating him until he proclaimed that King Booker was the man who supplied him with the lethal drugs. That's when she had decided to go on a mission to take King Booker and his cronies – an Irishman named Fit Finlay and a Brit named William Regal – down and see them punished to the fullest extent of the law.

She removed his hands from around her waist and placed a coy smile on her face. "I'll be down in a few minutes," she cooed. "I just need to fix up my face and I'll be right with you." He nodded and gave her a kiss, which made her want to gag. It always did. She hated him with every fiber of her being. But she plastered a smile to her face and watched as he retreated from their room and down the steps to the waiting guests in the living room.

She was lucky; she didn't do drugs. King Booker seemed to be okay with that, although he partook in it far more as a result. He had a "more for me" philosophy and she hoped he was as high as a kite when she arrested him. Because she knew she would be. Arresting him and seeing him punished and sentenced to the fullest extent of the law gave her a high that was unparallel to anything she would ever feel for the rest of her life.

She clasped the diamond choker around her neck and began to quickly apply mascara and lipstick. Running a hand down her figure to smooth the imaginary wrinkles out of her dress, she left down the steps towards King Booker's awaiting guests.


	2. Black

**Chapter Two**

**Black**

Sharmell came down the steps and King Booker called out, "All hail the sexy queen." She put a smile on her face, even though it was taking everything she had not to stab him with her stiletto. She was smiling, thinking about the moment that he would be sitting across from her in a courtroom and realizing that she played him. And she had enjoyed every second of it.

All the local dealers were there. A middle-aged white guy named CW Anderson was drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, trying to hit on a young woman named Maryse. King Booker was together with two young guys, JTG and Shad. Sharmell legitimately liked those boys and she hoped when the bust went down that things could be fixed in their lives. She was even willing to ask the DA for a suspended sentence for them. They still had so many years left in their lives. They were sweet kids who were always so incredibly respectful to her, and she would have hated to see anything happen to them.

She hated these gatherings. Where everybody would get together and get high and then she had to try and lug King Booker's sorry ass back up the steps and to the bedroom. She had left him on the couch once, and she had never heard the end of it. But some nights he was so high that he would allow her to take him upstairs and he would fulfill his matrimonial obligation as soon as he collapsed on top of her in bed. So now, she had to accept the fact that these parties usually spelled the end of her favorite dresses or jewelry, and would usually leave her feeling incredibly sick in the morning. All for the love of my country, she had thought to herself bitterly the first night it had happened. That was probably why King Booker was okay with the fact that she didn't do drugs; he needed somebody sober to lead him up the stairs.

He motioned for her to join him on the couch and she did, sitting down beside him as he started kissing her on the neck and shoulders. "Baby, we got company," she replied, motioning to the guys around them. She averted her attention from a pouty King Booker to play hostess. "Hi, guys, how are you boys doing tonight?"

"Very well, and yourself?" JTG inquired.

"I'm doing not too bad," she replied. "You enjoying yourselves tonight?"

"Very much," Shad replied. She hoped that the judge wouldn't be too harsh on the boys in the end, or that they weren't even there for the arrest. She would hate to see them victims of police brutality. They were good kids, high school kids, who had just made a few wrong choices. They were inseparable, and they were incredibly sweet. There were a few times where she had helped them with homework. She refused to let them drop out of high school, and since she was the woman of King Booker, they were too afraid to drop out. So there were a few times where King Booker would come home and find her helping them with math. King Booker had to admit, it was a fairly noble thing of her to be doing, but she had to admit that she didn't want these boys dropping out. Once this blew over, they were going to realize how important their education was.

The men and women around her had black hearts. They were the lowest of the low. They had started their crime careers at early ages, from starting fights in pubs (Finlay and CW), to armed robbery (JTG, Shad and Booker), to money laundering (Regal). Unfortunately, instead of turning it around, they had continued, the crimes getting more elaborate and violent as the years passed.

That's not to say she was perfect and had a heart of gold, because that couldn't be further from the truth. But the fact of the matter was that she had never put other lives in jeopardy as a result of her stupidity.

She hated these nights. She felt so out of her element, and so corrupt just watching them snort and pill-pop and inject, and not being able to do anything about it. Whatever happened to "in the interest of public safety?" She was disgusted that Captain McMahon was going to let this go on for as long as it was. And she couldn't handle being married to King Booker anymore. He was the most physically repugnant thing on earth. She spent many a night laying next to Booker, wishing that Bobby was there for the comfort, support and advice that she needed. She missed Bobby and she hoped when the case was over, things could pick up again between the two of them. He was such a sweet guy. And now she wasn't even allowed to contact him because of the case. It had been over a year since she had seen him last.

King Booker could pick up on a sense of vagueness resonating over Sharmell. "Something the matter, my queen?" he asked, kissing her neck.

"Just thinking about how amazing this entire gathering is," Sharmell replied, plastering a fake smile to her face. King Booker could sense she was lying, she knew it, but she refused to say anything more.

When the gathering finally ended at two in the morning, King Booker was high as a kite. Which meant, of course, Sharmell had to help him up the steps, which tore her dress in the process. But once King Booker was in bed and he was out cold, Sharmell went down the steps and onto the balcony, where she called Bobby.


	3. It's Been Awhile

**Chapter Three**

**It's Been Awhile**

Bobby Lashley was sleeping soundly. The phone began to ring repeatedly, slowly waking him up. With a groan, he turned on the touch lamp on the nightstand and picked it up. "Yeah?"

"Bobby – it's me."

He sat up. "Sharmell?"

"Yeah. Long time, no hear, huh?"

"Uh, yeah." He stared at the clock on the nightstand. It read two in the morning. "Sharmell, do you know what time it is?"

"I know, and I'm sorry to call so late...I guess I just need to talk to somebody..."

"What's going on, Sharmell?"

"It's this case. I don't know how much longer I can do this, Bobby. I want to bring his ass in so bad," she admitted, staring out into the night. "These parties...these drugged up parties where he deals to high school kids...I don't know how much longer I can do this."

He sighed; she was a sweet soul, and cases that always involved teenagers and drugs always took a severe mental toll on her.

"Sharmell, honey, hang in there," he told her. "I know you've been on the case a long time, and you've sacrificed so much to stay on this case. You're not going to lose this. Can I take any information back to the Captain?"

"Yeah. There's supposed to be a big shipment coming in in about three weeks," she told him. "I want this case to be over. I want there to be SWAT, FBI, DEA, you name it, I want it there."

"Well, do you have a location?"

"Not yet. But give me a few days and I'll call you back with all the information. I just want off this case."

"I know, Sharmell, but remember, the state of North Carolina is going to be thankful to you for your service and for getting one of America's worst drug dealers off of our streets."

"We have a lot of evidence, Bobby. He'll be off the streets forever."

"That's good to hear, but you need to keep your head up, baby," he told her. "You'll get King Booker."

"This case has taken my life, Bobby, and I don't know how long I can do this."

"You can do this, Sharmell. Just keep your head up and stay motivated. Remember, you're doing this for Lajon."

Sharmell's head snapped up at the mention of her brother. She took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right," she answered. "I'm sorry, I lost focus. I should let you go and get back to sleep."

"Okay, Sharmell. If you ever need anything, call me, okay?"

She nodded. "I love you, Bobby."

"I love you, too, Sharmell. We'll get him soon."

"Okay." He hung up the phone.

Sharmell hung up the phone and walked back into the house. She could see the powder all over the tables and the empty liquor glasses scattered around the room. She thought about cleaning it up. Instead, she went to her purse and pulled out her digital camera. She wanted to photograph the evidence in the event of his capture. She snapped several photos before putting it back into her bag and zipping it shut. Sharmell then gathered all the liquor glasses and took them into the kitchen. She stared at the clock on the microwave. It was late. It ws late enough that she should have contemplated going to bed, but she couldn't. She couldn't stomach the idea of sleeping with him beside her anymore, with his arms around her, with his lips on her. The thought alone made her cringe inwardly.

But she realized that now was not the time to change the routine. If anything changed with Booker, she was certain that he would suspect her and everything that she had worked for would have been blown. She couldn't risk that. She had sacrificed her personal life and her fiance for this case and she would do anything to make sure that he saw the inside of a courtroom.

She slowly turned off all the lights and trudged up the stairs towards the bedroom. She opened the door quietly, but it wasn't really critical that she did so; he was out cold. She wondered if he had overdosed; if that was the case she had no desire to help him. His hoarse breathing echoed through the room and she quietly got out of her dress and into her nightgown. She felt sick; she sincerely didn't want to do this case anymore. Quietly, she moved towards the bed and climbed in, but she still found herself unable to sleep. It wasn't just Booker's heavy breathing, it had to do with the entire case, and capturing all these dealers.

And she hoped Bobby would still be there for her in the end.


	4. Sick

**Chapter Four**

**Sick**

Bobby Lashley walked into the precinct and headed straight for Chief McMahon's office. He knew that McMahon would know what to do in the situation. Plus, he had to relay the information Sharmell had given him.

Stephanie McMahon was seated in her chair, overlooking the budget and some evaluations when Bobby trudged in. She looked up, surprised. "Something the matter, Lashley?"

"Sharmell called me last night."

"Oh yeah?" Stephanie didn't appear to show that much interest. But Stephanie was a new chief, transferred in from Hartford, Connecticut, and she had yet to meet Sharmell Sullivan.

"There's a huge shipment going down in three weeks," he told her. Stephanie's eyes perked up almost instantly.

"Where?"

"Sharmell has no location yet. But, she's calling me within the next few days, and I will have it for you. But she wants SWAT, DEA, ATF, you name it, she wants it there."

Stephanie stopped to ponder the idea for a minute. "If she gives me a location and a specific date, I can arrange all that no problem. Is that it?"

"Yeah."

He had awakened, pawing at her, running his hands along her waist, along her thigh, his breathing on her neck. Each movement, each breath made her stomach turn, the scent of him beside her made her nauseous as she lay still and just allowed him to do what he had been doing since she had gotten married, since she had been on this case.

"Good morning, my queen," he replied soothingly, stroking her hair. She smiled; she knew that he had taken so much drugs over the years that he was probably physically incapable of doing anything with her at that moment. The thought alone was a welcome relief as he rolled over and began to get dressed for his day's work.

But she couldn't shake that feeling of sickness out of her. It was this wave of nausea worse than anything she had ever felt before.

While King Booker got dressed, she ran to the bathroom and threw up repeatedly. When it was over, she lay against the bathtub, pale, her hair sticking to her sweaty face. She must have eaten something wrong the night before, or accidentally inhaled some of the drugs. But she felt so weak from her sickness that she wondered if she would even be ready to start gathering the information for Bobby today. She felt like laying down and sleeping. Her body ached.

Booker had gone out already, not bothering to check up on her as she trudged weakly back to the bed and got under the covers with a cold cloth on her head. She had to get up and throw up again.

She wondered what was wrong with her. In the past six months, she had never felt so sick in her life. She had barely gotten sick and she had been exposed to everything that would possibly cause sickness. Now, here she was, laying in bed, praying for a quick and painless death, wondering if she could take Booker with her in the process. Despite how badly she felt, she knew that she had to get him off the streets, if it was the last thing that she did.


	5. Denial

**Chapter Five**

**Denial**

The doctor's office wasn't crowded when Sharmell entered that morning, her face pale, her hair back in a tight ponytail. She had dressed down, in a pair of faded blue jeans and a navy sweatshirt, her eyes hidden by big sunglasses. She carried her purse slung over the crook of her left arm, her gaze averted downwards as she went towards the receptionist's desk.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" the receptionist inquired.

"I'm here to see the doctor," Sharmell replied. The receptionist typed a few things into the computer.

"Name please?"

"Sharmell Sullivan."

"All right. Take a seat, Miss Sullivan. We'll be with you shortly." Sharmell began to feel nauseous again.

"Can you tell me where the bathroom is?" Sharmell inquired, as he felt that familiar sick feeling kicking in. The receptionist motioned down the hallway and Sharmell ran down the hall. She threw up several times, her body convulsing with each heave as she gripped the porcelain bowl tightly with both hands. When she finished, she flushed the toilet and closed the lid, resting her head against the cool porcelain for several minutes. She was pretty sure it was food poisoning. But she couldn't remember anything she had eaten that would have caused such a thing.

She shakily stood to her feet and splashed her face down with cold water. As she did so, there was a knock on the door. "Yes?" she called out, her voice basically a croak.

"The doctor will see you now, Miss Sullivan." Sharmell nodded and opened the door, following the nurse to the doctor's room. "The doctor will be right with you." Sharmell nodded politely, and she sat down on the table. She couldn't believe how horrible she felt. She had never been so sick before in her life. Several hours before, she had been convinced that she was going to die.

The doctor arrived several minutes later to see Sharmell hunched over, throwing up in a garbage can. "My goodness," he said. "Maybe you should be at the hospital."

She finished and slowly sat on the table again. "I'm sure I'm okay. I've just been really sick the last few days. I think I may have food poisoning."

"A few days. I don't think food poisoning would last that long," he informed her.

"What else could it possibly be?" Sharmell asked. "I've never been so sick before in my life!"

That's when he pulled out the big guns.

"Miss Sullivan, how long has it been since your last period?"

Sharmell stopped. She thought about it. It had been at least two months. She hadn't really focused on it though. With the case going, she didn't really have the time to think about it.

"It's been a few months," she replied. "What...you don't think I'm pregnant, do you?"

"It may seem like it," he replied. "It sounds like you have yourself some morning sickness. I'd suggest you go get yourself a pregnancy test and check it out. But I think that's what it could be."

Sharmell's mind began to race. There was no way she was impregnated with Booker's spawn. There was no possible way. It had been so long since they had been together. She felt like being sick again. How was she going to tell him? What was she going to do?

Her mind screeched to a stop when she thought about Bobby. How was she going to tell him that she was pregnant with a drug lord's child? They both knew that being married to King Booker would involve some sort of physical intimacy, but she was pretty sure that neither of them could ever foresee something like this happening.

"Miss Sullivan, you don't look so happy about this. Is everything all right?" the doctor asked.

She looked up at him and offered a weak smile. "Yes. Yes. I'm all right. I just..I'm in shock, that's all," she replied. She slowly slid off of the table and stood, shaking the doctor's hand. "Thank you so much. I'll go do the test when I get home."

"If that's the case, congratulations. If it comes up negative, then please get to the hospital and get yourself looked at. But something tells me that the test will give you the answers."

Sharmell nodded. The thought alone made her feel sicker than what she was feeling. She gathered her purse and left the doctor's office. She hoped it wasn't the case. It was going to make it hard the night of the bust.

How was she going to arrest the father of her child, even if he was a hardened criminal?


	6. Fear

**Chapter Six:**

**Fear**

She sat on the bed, her head in her hands. She didn't know how she was going to say anything to anybody. She was going to be the laughingstock of the police department and she knew it. The pregnancy test was on the bathroom counter, glaring a positive result defiantly at her. Captain McMahon was going to be livid. She couldn't understand how the birth control had failed; she had followed all the steps to down to the wire to be careful. Now, here she was, pregnant with a child. Not just any child, but the child of drug kingpin King Booker.

Her mind stopped. How was she going to tell Bobby? Yeah, she had broken things off with him with the knowledge that she would be sleeping and doing all the wifely duties of King Booker. She was heartbroken. He was going to be devastated. She still loved him, and she knew that he still loved her, too.

The door opened downstairs. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. It was game time. "Sharmell, baby, I'm home!"

"Upstairs, baby," she called out. She heard his feet thumping up the steps. He entered the room, hanging his leather jacket on the back of the door. He stared at her, his eyes watching her oddly.

"What's the matter, baby?"

"Go into the bathroom," she told him. "It's on the counter."

He continued to stare at her oddly, but he made his way into the bathroom nonetheless. He saw the test on the counter, and stared at it. "Fucked if I know how to read one of these things," he mused out loud. "Does this mean you're knocked up or something?"

Her temper flared up. "That's exactly what it means, asshole!"

He was taken aback by her tone. "Well, calm the hell down. No need to start calling names, Sharmell." His eyes lit up. "This is great. I'm going to be a daddy. I... I've got to call the boys. Party tonight!"

She wanted to take a deep breath, and tell him now was the time to leave the drug industry now that he had a child on the way. But she knew he still had to go in. She had to do that for her brother, regardless of whether or not he was fathering her baby. She still needed to get more information to report back to Bobby or Stephanie. He disappeared out of the room, and when she was sure he was downstairs on the phone, she pulled out her cell phone and called Stephanie.

"Captain Stephanie McMahon, what can I do for you?"

"Steph, it's Huffman. We have a huge problem?"

"Has your cover been blown?"

"Way worse than that, Steph." She took a deep breath. "Captain, I'm pregnant."

"Get the fuck out of here," Stephanie stated, scoffing. Sharmell shook her head.

"I'm dead serious, Steph. I found out this morning. I don't know what happened; I was so careful."

"Look, Sharmell. He still has to go in."

"I know. It's going to be a bit tougher getting information while I'm throwing up every half hour."

"Put it aside, Huffman. We need to get his sorry ass in jail before the year is out. Now what do you know about the shipment?"

"I know it's arriving at the Cameron Marina in a few days. I'll try to get you a time tonight. Book's throwing a huge party. But look, I have to go. He's downstairs getting the guys together and he could be up at anytime."

"Okay, Huffman. Have you told Lashley about this yet?"

"No."

"Do you want me to take care of it?"

"Please." She had dreaded the thought of telling Bobby she was pregnant with another man's child. "I'll check in soon with more information."

"Good luck, Huffman. Be careful now."


	7. The Call

**Chapter Seven**

**The Call**

When Booker had gotten so high that he had passed out in the living room among his friends, Sharmell snuck into his office. She had spent the better part of her night throwing up in the bathroom. She couldn't be downstairs. She couldn't inhale the crack fumes. Her biggest fear now was giving birth to a drug addicted baby. She was willing to stay away from it at all costs.

She had called her parents and told them that she was pregnant. They were horrified. They asked her if she was going to have an abortion. It was out of the question for her. They supported her decision and became excited to have a grandchild. They hoped she would get back together with Bobby and he would adopt the child. They didn't see an issue with it, with Booker's checkered past. Sharmell had let them go. Now she was standing in his dimly lit office, looking around for any sign of where the drop was going to be made in the next week or so. She began to ruffle through his desk. Booker was cracked out, he wouldn't be moving for a while.

She found a bunch of papers inside, contracts, contact lists. It was an unorganized mess. Sharmell took a deep breath in a sigh of frustration. Finally, she found what she was looking for. It was at the Cameron Marina next Thursday. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down the information as quickly as she could. She needed to get out of the office, call Captain McMahon and then – with a mask on her face – start to clean up after the party. If the police stormed them, and they got in trouble, there was no way she could save the ones that she cared for. A few of them were so young that she hated to see the idea of them living the better part of their lives in prison. She was willing to recommend an extensive rehabilitation program for the boys and extensive probation. If they messed up after that, then she knew that they deserved to serve some time. But a few of them she were just certain were just making stupid mistakes.

She went back into the bedroom and grabbed her cell phone. Hunter was down on the couch, with a young woman named Victoria passed out on the other end of the couch, her legs on Booker's lap. She smiled. In a week, they were all going down and she'd finally be able to get rid of this undercover life she'd been living. She could live her life and not worry about sneaking around. She went up the stairs and into the bedroom. She dialed Bobby.

Bobby rolled over and answered the phone. "Lashley."

"Bobby, it's me. I got the information we're looking for." She was standing on the balcony outside of her bedroom, leaned over the banister, staring out into the night.

"How are you feeling?" Sharmell took a deep breath and she felt the tears sting behind her eyes. She had been severely emotional in the last several days.

"Stephanie told you?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. We both knew what this case was going to call for, Sharmell. How are you feeling?"

"I've been so sick I think death would be easier," she confessed. "Do you have a pen and a piece of paper?"

"Grabbing one," he replied, shuffling around his bedroom to grab what he was looking for. "All right, baby. What's happening?"

"It's next Thursday at the Cameron Marina. Dock four."

"You sure Booker himself will be there?"

"He should be. He told me he has a huge meeting next Thursday. If not, anyone you catch...dangle some drugs in front of them and I'm sure they'll roll over on Booker. He's not that loved by the people around here. He's an enabler. He just gets them high."

"Okay. I'll let Captain McMahon know. I'll call you tomorrow night and we'll let you know what's going on."

"That would be great, Bobby," she replied. "I'm looking forward to ending this entire case. I don't think I can do undercover anymore."

"Not with the little one on the way you can't," he replied. "Have you told your parents?"

"Today."

"How'd they take it?"

"About as good as they can. I'm pregnant with a drug dealer's baby." She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have to go. Booker had a big binge tonight and I'm going to need to clean up."

"Okay. You be careful." She nodded. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too, Bobby." They hung up the phone and she took a deep breath. She gathered a mask and made her way downstairs to clean up. She hoped that she could go through with this.


	8. Down to the Wire

**Chapter Eight**

**Down to the Wire**

Captain McMahon called Sharmell the following morning while she was out grocery shopping. Booker was still asleep with his group of friends. She hoped he had overdosed and died, but was dismayed to find he was still breathing. This morning she had been sick again, but it appeared to have subsided. She changed into sweats and went shopping.

"Good morning, Sharmell. How are you feeling?"

"I'm sick of being sick, Steph. Did Bobby give you all the information?"

"Yes, he did. I'm glad you managed to find it."

"It was lethal. His desk was bloody disorganized."

"Is it safe to talk?"

"Yeah. I'm at the grocery store. He's at home nursing off a drug-induced hangover."

"You've done good, Sharmell. We're all proud of you here." Sharmell nodded.

"Thank you, Steph. That means a lot."

"Are you going to be there for the bust?"

"Do you think I should?" Sharmell asked.

"I think you should gather all the evidence you can at his house," Stephanie replied. "And meet us at the police station. I'll let you take care of the interrogation." Sharmell nodded.

"All right."

"Relax for the next week. We have the evidence that we need. We have the locations. So whatever happens, you'll be all right. Just take care of yourself, and we'll see you back here next week. You did good." Sharmell nodded and Stephanie hung up the phone. Sharmell hung up.

She didn't love Booker. She loved Bobby. But the pregnancy was playing with her emotions. She wanted the child to know its father, but Booker had killed her brother. He would never know the niece or nephew that was developing in its womb. For that she was horrified. Disgusted. She still thought of her brother daily. The pain was so fresh. She loved him so much. She held herself responsible for her brother's death, for her brother even dabbling in the drugs that eventually took his life.

Shaking her head, she grabbed a box of Cheerios. She knew better than to start pitying herself for Lajon's death. There was still so much that she had to do before she started showing. There was still so much evidence that she had to gather before next Thursday. She needed to find a way to get it all photographed and recovered without Booker noticing. He was probably in cocaine-induced paranoia as to where she was.

She finished her grocery shopping and made her way home. Booker heard the car in the driveway and bolted out of the house. "Where were you?" he raged.

"Baby, calm down. I went grocery shopping." She opened the hatchback of her car and handed him a few bags. He stood, dumbfounded, for a minute.

"I was worried. You should have left a note."

"I forgot to," she confessed. "I got halfway to the grocery store and I thought about it. Just take it easy. I'm fine. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for some prenatal things. Are you going to be okay alone or did you want to come along?"

"What time?"

"Three-fifteen."

"I'll be there. I'll just have to move some meetings around." She nodded. She gathered a few bags and shut the door, following Booker into the house. Everyone was making their way awake and thanking Sharmell for cleaning up after them. Shad and JTG weren't there. Sharmell asked where they were; she hadn't seen them in a few weeks. Booker said they wanted to clean up their act. Go back to school. Sharmell felt proud of them. Booker said they wanted to do something with their lives. Shad wanted to become a police officer, or a member of the DEA. He was nervous. But Shad had left the state to live with relatives. Sharmell breathed a sigh of relief; she was worried Booker had killed him. At the same time, though, she wasn't sure how much she could believe with Booker.

Everyone sat at the table while Sharmell made breakfast. She hoped one day she could have a big family and have moments like that. Where she'd make breakfast for everyone. Her only hope was in the future that Bobby would be beside her at the breakfast table. She was amazed that he was so okay with the fact that she was pregnant with another man's baby. But they had broken up knowing that something like this could have happened. He had no choice. Now it was just a matter of if he could accept the child that would be coming into the world in about seven months. Her pregnancy changed the landscape of everything.

"Booker, baby, can you take over the cooking?"

"What?"

"Booker...I think I'm going to be sick..."

"I'll do it," Victoria volunteered. She took Sharmell's place at the stove and Sharmell ran through the house and got sick. The smell of cooking food didn't do anything for her. She leaned her head against the cool porcelain of the bathtub when she was finished and she quickly fell asleep.


	9. Going Down

**Chapter Nine**

**Going Down**

Sharmell was antsy – and sick – up to the day of the bust. She spent a lot of her time in bed, nursing off the flu-like feeling that was overtaking her. She couldn't believe she was so sick. And she was having heartburn. Booker was taking care of a lot of things around the house for her as a result.

The doctor said the baby was doing fine, healthy, and told her to keep doing whatever she was doing. She had been thankful. Booker had seemed excited, but she knew that this kind of life was not what she wanted for her child. Booker would never give up the big-money draw of the drug trade. She had Captain McMahon look into the whereabouts of Shad and JTG. It turned out Booker wasn't lying about Shad; however, JTG had been killed in a drug-related drive-by shooting. The news had devastated Sharmell, but she never told Booker about it. Shad was going to come back to the state when Booker had been captured and she offered to take him on ride-alongs until she was ready to leave for maternity leave. Stephanie okayed it.

That day, Booker was going to be gone the whole day. He had to go to his drug warehouse and help them make room for the new shipment. Then he was probably going to stop off at an associate's place and terrorize them a little bit before making his way to the marina. After he left, she had called Captain McMahon and said he was on the move. They already had a police officer named Christian Cage following him. Sharmell got herself up, dressed, and had gotten sick a bit before she went downstairs to start photographing evidence.

She started in Booker's office. A few officers would be over to help her, all girls. Officers Jillian Hall, Natalya Neidhart and Beth Phoenix made their way over to help Sharmell. They came armed with boxes so that they could carry the evidence out. None of them had seen Sharmell in months.

"Sharmell, congratulations!" Jillian exclaimed excitedly, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you, ladies," she replied. "How is Bobby really doing with this?"

"He's all right. He knew there was a risk of this. He's more worried about catching him," Natalya replied. They began going through his office. There was a locked drawer by the seat of his desk. Sharmell began to organize the documents and contracts and paperclipped them together, quickly filling the boxes with all his dealings.

"This guy is an idiot," Sharmell mused. "He should have been shredding and burning these the instant they went up."

"Bad for him, lucky for us," Beth replied. Sharmell nodded and they kept going. Natalya managed to pick the lock on the drawer and they opened it to find Booker's personal drug stash. "Bingo," Jillian replied as Sharmell began to snap photographs.

"I heard you're looking to get out of undercover," Jillian replied. Sharmell nodded.

"I can't do this anymore. Not with a kid on the way either," she replied. Jillian nodded.

"I can understand that."

They managed to leave the office with a box full of stuff and over a hundred photographs. They had also seized all the powder and marijuana they had found in his desk.

They spent seven hours going through his house, with a few false alarm scares that Booker was on the way. When Christian had called them back and told them he wasn't coming back, they had all breathed a sigh of relief and had continued going through the house. Meanwhile, across town, Captain McMahon had everyone getting ready for the big bust that night. Bobby was going to be there. He wanted to bring the scumsucker down.

Stephanie looked at her boys. These were the boys she practically lived with. Life as a police officer was a twenty-four hour job, and these boys were dedicated. She looked at them all. "Liven up, boys. Game time in a few hours. Are you boys ready to roll?"

"Yeah!" they all roared. She smiled.

"We're gonna take down a drug dealer!"

"Yeah!"

"Dinner on me tonight after paperwork is done!"

"Yeah!" they shouted, and all burst into laughter. Stephanie liked to take her boys out after a big case. It was important to her to form a bond with her boys. She mentally made a note that after everything was finished and Booker was put away that Sharmell needed a baby shower. She wanted to take care of one. They weren't just cops; they were family.

"All right, guys. Let's get going." They roared in excitement as they made their way out the doors. Tonight, a drug dealer was going down.


	10. Busted

**Chapter Ten**

**Busted!**

King Booker Huffman stood on the marina docks, looking like a lost tourist instead of a business man waiting to score a load of drugs. This was going to make him a few million dollars and he already had a ton of buyers lined up.

He stood alone on the marina dock, waiting for the ship to pull in. His boy Stevie Ray was backing the van towards the dock. They would have to work fast to unload the shipment into the van before getting it to the warehouse. There, Victoria and the rest of the guys would be waiting to cut it down with different things.

Sharmell was probably at home, getting sick. He hated seeing her like that, but the fact that she was pregnant was going to bring along a lot of different changes with her. The idea of her having his baby was joyous; he had a son from a previous relationship, but his ex-girlfriend had walked away and taken his son with her. This wasn't a life she wanted for her child, she had told him as she left. He knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before Sharmell felt the same way. But this was the life he chose, and he wasn't about to change that around for anybody.

The ship began to make its way into the dock. A man named Chris Jericho was at the helm. "Booker!" he shouted. He was a flamboyant guy in a glittering shirt and black leather pants, his short hair semi-spiked. He got off the boat. Booker hated dealing with this guy. He was loud, he was flamboyant. He hated it. He liked things subtle, and inconspicuous. But this man spent most of his time in Vietnam making pure heroin and selling it at a great deal to international buyers.

Chris jumped off the ship. "Long time, no see, bitch," Chris replied, slapping hands and hugging Booker. "Boys!" Chris shouted. His group began bringing out packets.

"I brought boys of my own, too," Booker replied with a smirk. "We got to move fast. I've had the cops on my ass for the last few months. My poor wife has signed more search warrants than she should be in the last few months." He turned his head back towards the van. "Boys!"

It was silent for a few minutes. Booker was befuddled. "Boys!"

A bunch of dark dressed police officers ran from all sides. "Freeze! Put your fucking hands in the air!"

Booker was dumbfounded. How had they found out? He had been so careful. Only he and Stevie even knew the location. The rest had been surprised when they were put into the van. Chris put his hands in the air as officers Gene Snitsky, Mike Knox and Tommy Dreamer approached him, handcuffing him. DEA officials rushed past them and onto the boat to begin seizing the drugs and the people on board. There was a giant police van parked out of view so that they could fit in all the people they were arresting.

Booker realized that they must have known about the warehouse as well. There was a lot of people that were going down. And he knew at that moment they were all going to roll over on him. Anything for a quick deal.

Captain Stephanie McMahon stepped out of the shadows with Bobby and she smiled. "Cuff him, Bobby."

He smiled and produced his handcuffs. "I've been waiting for six months to do this," he replied. Booker tried to make a run for it, but Stephanie clotheslined him down to the ground. She placed hard foot on his chest and pulled out her gun, holding it directly on him.

"I wouldn't try running," Stephanie replied. "You're under arrest for illegal drug trafficking. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and in all likelihood will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, then the state of North Carolina..."

Booker tuned out as he was roughly turned onto his back and was handcuffed. He couldn't believe this. The entire empire that he had built was now destroyed. Finished. He was screwed. And there was no way he'd be able to plead out of this. He was the elusive Booker Huffman. They'd been after him for years, more intently for months.

Bobby picked him up roughly and led him towards the van. A DEA officer named AJ Styles made his way over to Stephanie. "What do we got?" she inquired, holstering her weapon.

"It's going to be worth at least fifty million. I've never seen so much junk in my life," he replied. "It's going to take all night to get this unloaded. I'll call in some more of my boys. You go back and start getting the paperwork done." Stephanie nodded and shook hands with him. "You guys did good, Captain. Now finish cleaning house."


	11. Justice Served

**Chapter Eleven**

**Justice Served**

Booker sat in the interrogation room for what seemed like an eternity, sipping on watery coffee that tasted like oil. He knew that this was the end of the line for him. The word was that the heroin was worth almost sixty million. Chris had been pissed with him in the van on the way back, but hadn't said a word to him. He had only taken a deep breath and shot Booker the evil eye.

He was waiting for the interrogation. He was waiting for an officer to come in so that he could play "Let's Make A Deal". He hoped there was something open for him.

The door opened and Sharmell walked in. His eyes barely understood what he was seeing, the image of his wife in a police uniform. His face contorted in a snarl. "Bitch!"

"Check yourself, Booker. You're not going to do yourself any good," she advised him. He took a deep breath and sipped his coffee, glaring at her as she sat down in front of him.

"Pregnant with my fucking baby. You're a cop," he murmured. He couldn't believe it. He wasn't grasping it.

"Look at me, Booker," she replied. "You killed my brother. You've hurt so many people and it's time for you to pay for what you've done."

"Who's your brother?" Booker asked. His eyes looked exhausted, tired of fighting.

"Lajon."

"Lajon Sullivan..." It dawned on him. It should have dawned on him months ago. "Fuck."

"That's right, Booker. My brother died of shit you sold him."

"There's no way I can make a deal out of this, is there?" he asked. She shook her head.

"They've been after you for ages, Booker. There's no possible way you're going to get out of this." She shook her head. "A few of your guys already rolled over on you. You'll be spending a lot of years, if not the rest of your life, for all the damage and hurt you've caused. For all the families you've ripped apart."

"How could you do this to me?"

"You did this to yourself, Booker. You could have stopped. You got greedy, and you got stupid. My girls and I seized a lot of evidence from your house. Stuff you should have shredded, stuff that you should have burned. There's enough evidence from your house alone to put you away. We don't even really need your guys to roll over on you."

"Then why are they?"

"DA is offering them deals if they roll over on you. So they're singing like canaries right now. And they're all singing the same song. The ship has been raided, your warehouse has been raided, and it looks like your days harming our streets are numbered, Book."

Booker rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't believe this shit is happening."

"Believe it. Your life has made a drastic change," she replied.

"What about my child?"

"What about it?"

"I want to see my child," he said. "I don't want it to be like my Brandon." She softened up.

"Maybe when he's a little older, Booker. And when you have yourself straightened out. I don't want my child to know that his father is a notorious drug dealer. That's not what he needs to remember." Booker nodded. At this point, he was willing to agree to anything. He knew that this was serious. A lot of trouble was ahead. No smooth sailing.

Sharmell stood. "I thought you'd want to know that you're looking directly into the face of one of your victims, Booker. Not such a pretty sight now that it's so close, huh?" She smirked. "The DA will be in to talk to you in a while. There's no way you're going to talk your way out of it." With that, she made her way out of the interrogation room.

Captain McMahon made her way down the hall. "Sharmell!"

Sharmell turned to see Stephanie approach. "Great job. We got enough to keep him locked away for a few decades." Sharmell nodded. "Come on, girlie. We're all going out to dinner as soon as we finish the paperwork. I think you could use a night out with the family." Sharmell smiled. "How far along are you?"

"I'm about two months along," Sharmell confessed.

"Keep us updated; we'd love to throw you a baby shower." Sharmell smiled. Captain Stephanie McMahon may have gotten a bad rap every now and again, but she and Stephanie were the best of friends. They had started together, and Stephanie had been promoted, just narrowly beating out Sharmell for the promotion. Sharmell had thrown her a party. Stephanie put a comforting arm around Sharmell and led her down the hallway, talking to her about all the things she had missed in the last six months. Sharmell was grateful to be back to being Sharmell Sullivan. She had finally gotten justice for her brother.


	12. We Are Family

**Chapter Twelve**

**We Are Family**

Everyone sat together at the restaurant, smiling and chattering after the huge bust. SWAT and the DEA had released the numbers they had seized, and it was staggering. They had all captured North Carolina's most notorious drug dealer, and Sharmell was a prime reason it had happened.

"It takes a lot of talent to go for six months without getting caught," Captain McMahon said, raising a glass of wine to toast. Sharmell had a glass of lime water. She was sitting between Jillian and Natalya. Bobby was at the other end of the table, shooting her sympathetic smiles.

"To Sharmell," Jillian stated, "one of the most valuable officers that we have on the force!" Everyone echoed her sentiment and they toasted her. She smiled.

"How have you been feeling, Sharmell?" Officer Snitsky asked. Sharmell smiled.

"I'm all right," she replied, taking a sip of water. "I'm just so thankful to be back on the force, and not sneaking around like some private eye." They nodded. Undercover work took a lot out of anybody, but she had managed to carry it out for six months. The respect level that they had for Sharmell had been raised among her peers.

"Does anybody think Booker will plead out?" Natalya asked. Sharmell shook her head.

"DA won't allow it. He's got a rap sheet as long as my arm, and with the amount of heroin that was seized? Jericho will be lucky if he doesn't do heavy time either."

"I heard since he's a resident of Vietnam now, they might fight him for extradition," Bobby replied. Sharmell was confused.

"When did he become a resident of Vietnam?"

"About three years ago," Bobby replied. "I managed to dig up the paperwork. We could be in for a messy extradition battle here." Sharmell groaned. She just wanted it to go smoothly.

"Breathe easy, Sharmell. DEA will be taking care of that."

"Good," she replied, "better them than me. I just want to be finished with this case." She realized that she was incredibly exhausted. It was as if the last six months had finally caught up to her. She raised her glass. "To my brother Lajon," she said, "Baby, we got him." Everyone echoed her sentiments and their glasses chipped together and they drank. They knew this case had been extremely personal to Sharmell. It was for her brother that she had sacrificed her time, her life to capturing Booker. She had lost relationships, everything that she knew and felt comfortable with to become the wife of a drug kingpin. She and Stephanie had already filed the annulment papers on the grounds of fraud. Once they explained the matter to the judge, there would be no issue with her getting the marriage annuled and she would be free to live her life.

"So, Sharmell, you thought of any names yet?" asked Beth. Sharmell shook her head.

"I was thinking of naming it after LJ if it's a boy, but I'm not too sure what to name the child if it's a girl," she admitted. "The honest truth is that I have seven months to think about it." They all nodded.

"What are you going to do with Booker's involvement?" Natalya inquired. Sharmell shook her head.

"I'm not even sure yet," Sharmell said. "That's something I really need to think about." They nodded, understanding what her position on the subject was. She was in a rock in a hard place at the moment with where her relationships were going to go. Normally, she would have been able to walk away. But now there was a child in the equasion. It made things unbelievably complicated for her.

Dinner arrived and everyone got off of the subject of crime. Beth was about to get married, and the talk went to her wedding plans. The entire force was going to be there. They toasted that nobody had gotten hurt in the bust. Sharmell was thankful to hear that nobody had gotten hurt, but she learned Booker had tried to run, only to be taken down by Stephanie. She smiled. Stephanie was a tough girl. Everyone knew that. She was glad nobody had been harmed. It had gone as smoothly as it could.

She didn't talk to Bobby that night very much. Not about anything serious. Sharmell went back to her house and reveled in the comfort of being at home. It had been so long. She took a long bubble bath and got into her pajamas. She was asleep in almost an instant once her head hit the pillow.


	13. Epilogue

_**Movies 2k8, thank you so much for your loyal reviews!**_

**Epilogue**

Eight months later, Sharmell was on leave, nursing her new son, Lajon Robert Sullivan. She had decided against giving the child Booker's last name. Booker was serving about thirty years in jail for all the drugs that had been seized. A lot of the other guys had pleaded out and were serving either probation, doing prison time or in extensive rehabilitation.

Shad had returned after Booker had been sentenced, and arrived at the police station to meet with Sharmell. He thanked her for all the help she had given him. And he admitted that her drug-free lifestyle was an inspiration for him. She made him an honorary uncle to little Lajon, and he was over at least three times a week, playing with the baby while he studied his homework with Sharmell, and she taught him police procedures. He knew that something was different about her when she was married to a drug lord and hadn't partaken in anything.

She and Bobby didn't get back together. They had tried, but it had lasted about four months. Sharmell wasn't heartbroken over it. Neither was Bobby. They both realized they had both changed as people, and it just wasn't going to work. She was able to support herself and her child, so she wasn't concerned in the slightest.

Booker was doing what he could to straighten himself out for his child, and he had quickly gotten used to the fact that he was going to be in jail until he was in his seventies. But he had kept quiet and was quickly becoming what was described as a model prisoner. But Sharmell wasn't looking to take a newborn to a prison. She knew she'd have to eventually. But little LJ was only a few days old, and she was still suffering from a total lack of sleep. Shad had been staying one night a week to make sure she got sleep, and he'd take care of the baby for her. He was an upstanding man and for that she was thankful.

Life had changed for Sharmell. After the trial, she had moved to a new apartment, and had left the undercover section of the force. She couldn't do it anymore, and with a baby, everyone understood. She was back to just walking the beat and dealing with issues as they arose. Natalya had gone into the undercover work, and Sharmell had already warned her of the pitfalls that came with undercover work. But Natalya was ready for it, and Sharmell admired her for it. Undercover life was no life to lead. It robbed her of her family, her fiance.

Her parents were happy to hear that she had gotten out of undercover work, and they loved their grandson as though he was a son. They were proud of Sharmell for capturing King Booker Huffman and for all the things she had sacrificed in order to find some kind of justice for her brother. When they had told her they were proud of her, she had cried; they had never said it to her before.

Sharmell heard Lajon crying in the crib. She made her way over to the crib and lifted him up, holding him against her, stroking his back. He was the most beautiful child she had ever seen. She picked up a baby blanket Stephanie had given her at her baby shower and she wrapped it around her son. She hadn't thought about dating through her pregnancy, let alone dating with Lajon. For now, it was going to be the two of them against the world. And the thought couldn't make Sharmell happier.


End file.
